The Transformation
by Lou Buggins
Summary: Rachel offers Gar some advice to help him turn into other animals, but will it work? Set during season 2 at Titans Tower based on the synopsis for S2.


**_The Transformation_**

_**AN: Titans got me so hyped I'm writing fanfics for it now. A BBRae One-Shot set in the Titans universe. Season 2 compliment. **_

"Breathe. In...and then...out."

Gar's shoulders slouched as he exhaled deeply from his body. The air leaving his lungs and blowing out slowly past his curved lips. His eyes stayed shut as he focused on only his chest, rising and falling. His ears concentrated on his breathing and the sound of his heart pumping his blood through his veins. The longer he listened, the louder it became until all that consumed him was the sound of his heartbeat growing faster and louder. His skin began to crawl and his fingers tingled with adrenaline. He could feel something within himself begin to stir at the sound of both its prey and its host. The image of this beast flashed in his mind's eye, but with a growl of frustration, Gar pushed the wild feline back into the depths of his consciousness.

"Not you. Not now." He thought to himself as he continued his concentration. The words of his mentor, Dick, played back in his head.

"Relax your body. Calm your mind. Focus on the animal you want to be and let your body take over. Just like you do to turn into the tiger. Remember, you are only limited by your imagination."

His imagination. Dick made it sound so easy. He had been trying to turn into another animal for weeks now and each time he came up short. He tried a monkey, a gorilla, a rhino, a hawk, even a lion! Being another big cat may not have been a giant leap, but at least it was something besides that blasted tiger.

"Come on powers, work with me here." He pleaded as he began to imagine a male lion in his head. The majestic beast stretched out its large body, its muscles rippling underneath its tan pelt. The long hairs of his mane shook as the creature opened it's mouth, revealing his sharp fangs. His claws unsheathed against the rocks, leaving deep marks in the surface. His tail whipped about and his ears curved in to listen to the call of the wild African savanna. At first it was like Gar had been looking at the lion, admiring it close, but undetected. Until the king of the jungle turned his head with a jerk and captured the gaze of the unsuspecting boy. With their eyes locked, Gar felt himself slip out of his own body and before he knew it, he began to look through the eyes of the beast.

Something inside him bubbled up. He felt it first in his paws, then felt it rise to stomach. It built up in his gut until it rushed through his throat and in one solid stance he throw up his head and let out a -.

"Roar!"

...

Gar blinked open his eyes and grimaced as the iridescent lights flooded his vision. Once his vision cleared, he quickly checked his body for any signs of changes, but he had no fur, no fangs, and no claws. He wasn't even green, like he sometimes was whenever he tried to tap into his inner animal. Nope, he was just a normal teenage boy standing in a room by himself, letting out a pathetic sound that barely resembled a roar.

"What was that?"

Gar perked up at the sound of her voice. She tried and failed to stifle her laughter as she stepped into the room. So maybe he wasn't alone, but that thought only made him feel more embarrassed with himself than he already was.

"Nothing!" He answered her quickly while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "That was...that was nothing."

The purple-haired beauty examined him with narrow eyes and a knowing smirk. She circled him, like a predator stalking its prey, and the action made the animal within him stir once more.

"Really? Because to me it sounded like a little kid trying to talk to the lions at the zoo."

Her chaff would have normally made him laugh, but he was already feeling down, which made her teasing harder to handle. "Oh like you're any better?"

He didn't mean for his comeback to bite the way that it did and the way her smile fell made him instantly regret it. He could feel the shift in the mood and he prepared a list of apologies in his head. But to much to his surprise, the hurt on the empath's face vanished as quick as it had come, replaced by a look of concern. She had stopped her pacing and instead approached him. He felt his mouth dry up as she neared, but he kept his body still and his eyes on her. When she finally stopped moving, she was only an inch away from him. He was forced to look down in order to maintain their eye contact. He looked like the size of a bear with her standing so close to him and he wondered how someone so small could also be so threatening.

"No, but you are." She replied to him in a soft, but self-assured tone. He blinked down at her as he tried to make sense of what she had said. Sensing his confusion, she rolled her eyes in typical Rachel-fashion, then elaborated for him.

"You'll get there, Gar. I've seen you do it before. You just need to focus more."

"I am focusing!" He huffed as he pulled at his forest-green hair. "That's the problem! When I turn into the tiger, it's easy. It feels natural, like I barely have to try."

The girl appeared shocked by his admission, but stayed silent as he continued on, his hands moving in the air as he spoke.

"But with the other animals, it's like I'm reaching for something that's not even there. I can feel them, I can picture them in my mind, but it's like being trapped inside. No matter how hard I try to push, I just...I can't get them out." His head hung low as shame and defeat radiated off of him. The sorceress swallowed as his emotional pain filled her senses.

"Hey, it's okay. Even if turning into a tiger is all you can do, it's still pretty bad-ass to me." She smiled at him with one of her rare, genuine grins. Her smiles were always contagious and he found himself returning her gesture with a small smile of his own.

"Thanks, but I know I can do more. I just need to find a way to unlock the other animals. Like a...like a power up or advancing to the next level."

Rachel's affectionate smile fell once again and now she looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Gar, this isn't a video game."

The boy sighed, but nodded his head. "I know, I know. It's just a metaphor. But seriously, Mario gets his powers from mushrooms. Link gets his for the food he eats and by solving puzzles." He held up two fingers as he began to count them off.

"Gar."

"Pac-Man is able to eat the ghosts by eating fruit. You know all those guys get their powers through food? Maybe there's a certain kind of food I can eat that will help bring out a certain kind of animal?"

"Gar!" Rachel's outburst derailed his train of thought and he glanced back down to the girl.

"If eating fruit helped your powers, you would have mastered them ages ago. Instead of video games, think about why it's easier to turn into one kind of animal over another. What about the tiger makes it different from the rest?"

He was not sure where she was going with this, but she was a very smart girl, one of the smartest people he knows, so he indulge her.

"Well like I've said before, tigers are my favorite kind of animal. Always has been." He answered honestly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Why?" She questioned him and her question left him puzzled.

"Why what?" He asked for clarification, wondering once again where she was going with this. She huffed in annoyance and he felt a little bad for making her frustrated, but seriously was pretty lost.

"Why is a tiger your favorite animal? You keep saying it is, but you've never told me why."

"Oh!" He exclaimed as he nodded his head in understanding, but the answer to her question was quite personal and he grew nervous as he tried to tell it.

"Well uh, besides the fact that they look awesome, I guess I have a soft spot for them because they remind me of this stuffed toy tiger I had growing up. I called him stripes. He was my favorite toy. My mom won him for me at a carnival right before we moved to the Congo." As he finished his story, he felt his cheeks moisten and realized he had been crying. A blush took over his face as he whipped the tears away with his bare arm. "Sorry." He mumbled under his arm.

"Don't apologize. I get it. Tigers remind you of that toy and that toy reminds you of your Mom." Rachel's voice was soft again, almost as gentle as her touch when her hand slipped over his jaw and cradled his cheek. Her thumb rubbed small circles over his flushed skin and the simple act soothed his mind, but sent his heart flying through his chest.

"Maybe, having that emotional connection to the animals you want to turn into will help you to unlock them? So far you've been focusing on the animal. Maybe instead, try focusing on why you want to be that animal."

She waited a moment to let her words of advice sink in, before excusing herself to give him more time to think and practice. He rattled his brain as he tried to think of an animal he could link back to a memory of his. A few came to mind, but it was difficult for him to focus with her scent now lingering in the air and the feeling of her porcelain skin against his still tingling in the same spot she had touched. Even without being in the room, she was a distraction to him.

He sighed as he gave up and allowed his mind to wander however it saw fit. He thought of her. Her newly curled hair that tempted him to twirl it between his fingers. Her new crimson chakra stone that stood out in great contrast to her snowy skin. Her enigma powers that had taken the shape of bird and looked as black as the night sky.

"Like a raven." He thought idly during his day dreaming. Then he joked bitterly to himself. "I haven't tried turning into a raven yet."

That thought took control of him and before he could stop himself, he pictured the little black bird flying in the air. Its small wings catching the wind as it flew his way. He heard the familiar caw coming from its beak and by the time he could make out its beady little eyes, he felt himself slip into the bird's body.

This time when he opened his eyes, he saw the room he was standing in, only from a very different angle. He was low to the ground, extremely low. Enough to where he could tap the tile floor with the tip of his coal-colored beak. And that's when he realized with a sudden surge of excitement and glee that he had finally accomplished his goal. He stretched out his wings and looked on both his sides to admire them. Then he jumped up and down on his scrawny bird feet. Finally, in a moment of bravery and curiosity, he flapped his wings as hard and as fast as he could. He felt himself slowly lift off the floor and rose higher and higher in the room. He let out a squawk of exhilaration as he saw the distance between him and the floor grow. That was, until he thrusted his body into the ceiling and came crashing down to the floor with a loud thud.

"Gar! Are you okay?" He heard a deep voice call out to him. It took him a minute to recover enough to lift up his head and see who was speaking to him.

"You took quite a fall there buddy. Are you alright? Can you understand me?"

It was Dick, his mentor and his team leader. Without thinking, he nodded his little bird head and staggered back to his feet. He shook his entire body, ruffling his feathers and flapping his wings. All his pieces and parts seemed to be working still, so he nodded his head again and added a short caw to confirm.

The boy wonder laughed now that he knew the boy wasn't hurt. "Well then I'm proud of you. You changed into an animal that's not a tiger." He congratulated the shapeshifter. Gar puffed up his chest with pride at the compliment.

"But really? A raven?" The older man grinned with knowing in his eyes. This time the bird shrank and lowered its head in a form of bashfulness.

"Don't worry," Dick said as he stood up off the floor where he was kneeling beside Gar, "I won't tell her, but you might want to change back into Gar before she comes back here."

The man left with a laugh and Gar cawed in agreement.


End file.
